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We’re only three days into the new administration, but it looks like one really big change is in the works for Brooklyn: Safer streets for pedestrians. As you may recall, the shocking deaths of several children hit by cars near the end of the year in Fort Greene, Park Slope and other neighborhoods galvanized a movement to increase pedestrian safety in the borough. Activists attended the inauguration, where newly appointed DOT chief Polly Trottenberg said pedestrian safety is top of her to-do list, reported the Brooklyn Paper.

When de Blasio was campaigning, he promised to create more 20-mile-an-hour zones, improve at least 50 dangerous intersections and areas, and “prioritize traffic enforcement.” Above, traffic along 4th Avenue.

We think these things would go a long way toward ending these senseless, unnecessary and totally unacceptable pedestrian deaths. Perhaps New York should also consider changing the law to give pedestrians the right of way at all times — in other words, making drivers automatically at fault if they hit a pedestrian. It works in California. What do you think?

Grieving Slope Parents to Hold de Blasio to Promise to End Crash Deaths [Brooklyn Paper]
Trottenberg Meets Parents of Traffic Violence Victims at Inauguration [Streetsblog]
Activists Change Speed Limit Signs in Park Slope to 20 Miles Per Hour [Brownstoner]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I am a regular driver, bicyclist, and pedestrian in Brooklyn. It seems that pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers can all take blame. Frequently drivers run red lights, go much too fast, and ignore basic safe driving practices. But at the same time, pedestrians cross streets recklessly, as if all cars will magically stop or disappear. Cyclists can be ridiculously careless. But it does seem that enforcement of traffic laws would go a long way to cutting down on at least a third of the problem. When was the last time anyone saw the police pull someone over for running a red light or speeding? Once drivers knew that it was not the wild west, perhaps the situation would improve.

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